Come Around Roommate
by LiveLoveLikeMe
Summary: Swan Queen Week Day 2: Roommates AU Winter 2015. Emma's stay at Storybrooke Hospital is interrupted as a new roommate is thrust upon her- much to the other woman's dismay.


Swan Queen Week: Day 2- Roommate AU

I know I have a lot to do (I'm actually working on updates right now!) but it is my duty as a member of SWEN to partake in the beloved Swan Queen Week of Winter 2015.

Let me know what you think! That was just a fun idea I had.

* * *

"This is ridiculous! I demand to speak to your superior immediately," a voice barked from somewhere to her left.

Emma groaned quietly to herself, annoyed at the disruption. She had been trying and failing to sleep for the past two hours, and this certainly wasn't helping matters. Despite the noise, she kept her eyes closed, hoping it would end just as quickly as it had begun.

It did not.

"We're terribly sorry, Madame Mayor, but we're having a shortage of beds with the recent flu outbreaks. This is the best we can do at the moment." This voice was mousy, almost cowering to the other obnoxious speaker, but Emma did not recognize it either.

"Maybe you failed to notice, dear, but this is the _maternity wing._ Do I look like I need to give birth?" the first voice quipped back, even snarkier this time around. Emma wanted to peek an eye open to see if the supposed Mayor did, in fact, look like she needed to give birth, but at this point it would just give her stealth away.

"Of course not, Madame Mayor. We've just had to extend our quarantine zone, so this is where Dr. Whale will be seeing his patients."

"Fine, but I should at _least_ be given a private room, or have you all forgotten about that new pediatric wing you have recently proposed to my office."

Emma couldn't take it any longer. Stealth be damned, she sighed heavily and opened her eyes. "Look, lady, she already told you there's a bed shortage. And honestly, I'm not so bad. You'll come around. Do you really wanna be the woman who threatens to take healthcare aware from kids? Because I'm pretty sure it doesn't change your odds of getting a different room, but it does make you look like a bitch."

Two sets of eyes shot toward Emma, one looking silently grateful and the other looking a terrifying mix of I-will-destroy-you and scandalized to the point of embarrassment.

"Excuse me? Maybe you never learned, dear, but it is impolite to eves drop onto other conversations!" Mayor McBitchy retorted, voice rising dangerously. Emma was torn between a clever reply of her own and begging her new roommate to keep it down, but it was too late.

Piercing wails broke throughout the room, bringing all attention to the little clear-sided container by the window that had held Emma's finally sleeping son. Now, he was wide awake and ready to let them all know just how displeased he was about it. Emma jumped up, regretting it immediately due to the pain, but her desire to attend to his cries won out. She made her way over and scooped him up, careful to hold him exactly as she had been instructed.

The cries didn't stop.

"Why is he crying?" she asked, looking up to the nurse for guidance.

Emma had only been a mother for a few hours, and already she was failing. She tried rocking him and cooing at him, but nothing worked, and every cry ripped at her heart in the most painful ways.

The nurse smiled at her fragile state softly and spoke in a soothing tone. "He must be ready for his first feeding. Do you want me to send someone in to help?"

"Uh, isn't that usually a one-person kind of job?" Emma asked uneasily.

She laughed, making Emma feel worse about herself despite knowing it probably wasn't meant to make fun of her. "Most new mothers need a little help learning how to get started. It's not always so easy at first."

"Oh, uh, then I guess yeah."

The nurse did not wait a second extra before fleeing the room, leaving Emma still standing with her new son and the room's newest resident still standing in an oddly quiet manner by the door.

"You have a baby," she stated, this time in a much lower and huskier voice that washed over Emma almost peacefully.

"Yep, had him a few hours ago," Emma retorted to the absurd observation. She was in the maternity wing, holding a crying baby, and looking a level of shitty that could only be attained by shoving a tiny wriggling human out of her vagina. _Of course_ she had a baby. Emma considered saying as much but didn't want to chance the yelling returning.

Her son was still crying and the strain of standing was beginning to become unbearable. With a cringe, Emma shuffled back to her bed and slowly lowered herself and her son down.

"I know, I know," she cooed down to him. "You're a hungry little guy, but the nurse still isn't back yet." Emma was starting to wonder if she would _ever_ be back or if it had all been a rouse to escape her new roommate.

Said roommate scoffed from across the room. "Please, those incompetent fools will let the poor thing starve before they ever do their jobs. You may as well try, I'm sure even you can handle that."

Emma nodded, looking more assured than she felt. She knew the basics—open shirt, attach baby to boob, let baby feed. It was the how that confused her, but Mayor McBitchy was right. She couldn't bear to hear him cry any longer without at least trying to do something to help him. With a shaky hand, Emma reached up to unbutton her shirt. She was suddenly self conscious of the eyes on her and all the pressure to do this correctly, and it made her drop her grip on the shirt several times.

"Here, let me." Her roommate marched over in frustration and grabbed Emma's shirt, pulling it apart in a way much more revealing than she would have preferred.

"Hey!" Emma squealed.

The woman raised an eyebrow at her in defiance. "Really, it's like you think I'm trying to cop a feel or something. I can assure you, I merely want his incessant crying to end." Emma wasn't entirely sure she believed her motives, but she was so exhausted and close to tears of desperation that she just nodded.

"I don't even know your name."

"Regina Mills. There, now you do. Can we please get this over with?" Regina's smile was sugary sweet with a side order of threatening tossed in. How could she possibly say no to that?

"Emma Swan. And fine," Emma gave in. "Do you know anything about breastfeeding?"

Regina waved her off and reached for her breast area again, this time gesturing for her to move the baby closer.

"What's there to know? It's all instinct, so calm yourself. You get him there and he should do the rest."

Emma did as instructed and positioned her son closer to her chest, trying to pretend the only one currently staring at her nipples was the crying baby in her arms. She got him as close as she could, but his crying continued and he did nothing to latch on despite the ease of access he now had.

"May I?" Regina asked. Emma wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to do but was too desperate for her son to feed to argue. She nodded eagerly and seconds later, soft fingers were wrapping around her breast tissue and slightly moving it forward.

Emma gasped as the other woman took it upon herself to guide her nipple to her son's waiting mouth. The tanned thumb strayed and stroked against his tiny pink cheek. Like magic, the crying ceased and he finally latched on. Emma knew tears were falling down her cheeks, but she didn't care. She was doing it. She was actually feeding him and apparently even doing it correctly.

"Thank you," she whispered, knowing the other woman was still close enough to hear her. "You must have the magic touch."

"Yes, well, he was a very hungry boy. All I did was help him locate the source. The rest is all you."

Emma tore her eyes away from her steadily feeding son and smiled at Regina, taking in her appearance for the first time. The other woman was older than herself, but stunning. Her deep chestnut locks flowed in perfect coifs around her face, and aside from a nasty bruise on her forehead, her makeup was done impeccably. It made Emma feel even more self conscious about her own hospital appearance, but the older woman didn't seem to mind. She was too busy beaming down at the baby.

Just then, the nurse and another woman returned to the room and paused at the doorway.

"Oh, it looks like you won't be needing our assistance after all."

* * *

"What are you in for?" Emma asked a while later. Her son was asleep in her arms, having finished feeding, and Regina had taken residence in a chair. She refused to touch the bed with a disgusted sneer until she could be assured the sheets were clean.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm assuming it has something to do with the welt on your forehead. What happened?"

"How is that any of your business?" Regina snapped, albeit with less venom than she'd used in her tone upon first entering the room.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, I let you touch my boob. The least you can do is tell me why I get the pleasure of sharing my room with you."

Regina huffed and eyed her wearily. "Fine. If you must know, there's some construction being done at city hall, and the idiot contractor failed to secure a nearby ladder. Evidently it hit me in the head, but I don't completely remember. Whale has insisted on keeping me overnight for observation in case I have a concussion."

"That's strange. Normally they just tell you to make sure no one at home lets you fall asleep for so many hours or whatever. I guess the Mayor gets special treatment?"

Regina's only response was a tense silence.

"Unless there is no one else?" Emma finds it hard to believe that the stunning woman could possibly be alone, but there is the striking evidence of her lack of visitors and rigid stance at the inquiries that tips her off.

Again, there was no response, only the sound of Regina's chair scraping the floor as she turned it to face away.

"I'm alone, too," Emma blurted out later that evening.

"Hmm?" Regina hummed and looked her direction with a raised eyebrow, the steam apparently gone from her earlier mood.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. I can't recall a time I ever had someone who would watch me if I had a concussion," she admitted. "Not even the kid's father wanted to stick around.'

"You have him now. What more could you need?" Regina's voice is full of longing, but it's gentle now in comparison.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess? What is there to guess about? I would do anything to be in your shoes," Regina admitted softly.

Emma sighed, unsure if she should divulge the truth to her roommate. Even saying it out loud somehow felt wrong, but she was so desperate for someone to just tell her what to do at this point, she wasn't sure she could handle another life altering decision on her own.

"What if I'm not cut out to be his mother? It's not like I have anything to go on here. Part of me keeps thinking he'd be better off with different parents to raise him. Maybe the best I can do it to let him have more than just me."

Regina clicked her tongue in thought. "I can't tell you what to do, Miss Swan, but if you want to be his mother, you should be. I think you're doing a fine job so far." Regina cleared her throat and looked at the floor. Emma wondered if it pained her to be so kind.

"What if you could tell me what to do? Then what would you say?" Emma asked, still hopelessly unsure about herself.

Regina sighed deeply and crossed her arms across her chest. A tongue darted out to wet her lips before she proceeded, making Emma's stomach tie itself in knots.

"I suppose I would say that your son is clearly very in love with you. I would say you have already managed to give him all he needs—you hold him, you have fed him, and soon I'm sure you'll get to experience changing him for the first time. All those little gurgles and half-smiles have been directed right to you. If fear is your only reservation, then you should keep him."

"Okay." Emma nodded to herself, but a tear falling down her cheek was enough of a sign that the words had meant more to her than she could express back to the other woman. "Then I guess I'm not so alone anymore."

* * *

"Does he have a name?"

"Not yet. I didn't want to get too attached, but now I realize I don't have any ideas."

"I've always liked the name Henry."

"Hmm, he does kind of look like a Henry, doesn't he?" The baby gurgled up at her. "I think he likes it."

"Welcome to the world, Henry Swan."

* * *

"Why don't I recognize you?"

Regina had finally relocated to the bed, only after making the nurse change the sheets right in front of her. Having seen the mess of her own birth, Emma didn't exactly blame her for wanting to be sure.

"Uh, because we've never met?" Emma replied in confusion. She was starting to wonder if maybe her roommate had a concussion after all.

"No need to state the obvious here, Miss Swan. Storybrooke is a small town, a town which I personally know quite well, yet your existence here is a complete mystery to me."

Emma swallowed thickly and looked down at her empty arms, suddenly wishing Henry was back with her instead of off with the doctors having all those nerve-wracking post-birth tests done. He was too tiny, she thought, to be all alone away from her, yet the doctors had insisted she shouldn't go.

"Right, well, I was just passing through town. I was hoping to get a place in Boston before Henry arrived, but I guess he was as impatient as me."

"You don't have a place to stay?" Regina asked in surprise.

"Well, I have my bug…"

"You can't possibly be suggesting you want to raise a baby in your car?" she asked incredulously.

"Not raise, just live in for a temporary solution until I can figure it out," Emma countered, though even she knew her defense was weak. "It's not like I have any other options."

"You still have another day or so until you need to leave. I'm sure a solution will arise."

Regina sounded way too damn hopeful, but Emma appreciated the hope and simply nodded to herself.

* * *

"How come you don't have any kids?" Emma asked. The question had popped into her head and escaped before she could think about it, and she waited with baited breath in anticipation of Regina's angry retort.

Instead, she was met with a soft reply, so sad it nearly broke her heart. "Some people just are not meant to have someone else. I've accepted that I just may be one of those people."

"If it matters, I think a kid would be lucky to have you."

* * *

Emma was brought from her sleep with ease to the sound of Henry's soft whimpers, but they were finished before she could even turn in his direction. He had been asleep when the nurse brought him back, so she allowed him to rest in the little hospital baby tank so as not to risk waking him.

To her surprise, the cries had stopped for a very peculiar reason—Regina was holding her son and _smiling_ at him.

Mayor McBitchy was positively glowing over her baby boy, and he did not seem to mind the hold one bit as he cooed up at her. Instead of moving to take him, she watched in silence, a smile on her own face at the endearing sight.

"I have a guest room," Regina spoke softly without looking up. Emma wondered how Regina knew she was watching her, as well as how the woman had found herself permitted to hold Henry without so much as asking, but even having known Regina for such a short time she just _knew_ the older woman would never be bothered to act in any other way.

Which brought Emma back to what she had just said, seemingly out of nowhere.

"What?"

"I have a big home, with two very empty guest bedrooms actually. And you know, Storybrooke really is a lovely town. I hear it's great to raise a family in, and I just thought…" Regina trailed off, seeming less sure of herself with each word.

"You thought what?" Emma gaped at her, wondering if she was now the one with a concussion. Surely the other woman, practically a stranger to her, couldn't be suggesting what she thought she was suggesting. It was absurd, the kind of thing she would expect from a serial killer or a pervert, only Regina was nothing like the perps she used to track down before getting pregnant.

"Since clearly there is no way I can let you raise little Henry in your _car,"_ Regina punctuated that with another half-teasing glare, "you two should come and stay with me."

"I'm sorry, what?" Emma asked again, still in disbelief.

Regina rolled her eyes dramatically but continued rocking a happy Henry in her arms.

"Can't you come up with anything more intelligent to say? Clearly you are just further proving my point. Henry needs an adult around with a wide enough vocabulary to teach him to speak," she quipped. "So you shall move in with me."

"But… but you don't even know me. Regina, I don't understand. Nobody is this nice."

"Yes but, I thought you might understand. You may be obnoxious, and you talk in your sleep, and you clearly lack any sense of decorum, but overall you have been a decent roommate."

She thought Emma might understand? What the hell would she understand, and how was any of that supposed to be complimentary to her? All Emma knew how to do was be on her own, and even that was questionable. But that was just it, wasn't it? Regina was lonely. Regina, who had been so passionate over the fact that Henry made her less alone, was currently cuddling her son to her chest as if he belonged right there.

Mayor McBitchy was really just Mayor McLonely, and Henry was the beacon of hope.

"I might need some help with the kid. I'm still new at this, you know? And he's going to cry a lot, especially during the night. Are you sure you want to put up with all that, on top of the talking you imagined I do in my sleep?" She _so_ did not talk in her sleep. …Right?

Regina stayed silent for a moment, and Emma could see the emotions running through her face. "Well, dear, Henry has proven to be nothing but the perfect roommate. I suppose, for his sake, I can put up with you as well. Does that mean you'll take me up on my offer?"

Emma rolled her eyes and laughed, overjoyed at the fortune of her stay in Storybrooke Hospital, with all its overcrowded and bitchy mayoral glory.

"I knew you'd come around to having me as your roommate."


End file.
